According to the police, a vehicle coming from Chembur rammed into a vehicle moving ahead of it after the latter applied the brakes suddenly.

Traffic chaos at the newly-opened SCLR

Two people were injured in the accident and they were taken to a nearby hospital. A complaint has been lodged with Tilak Nagar police Station, a traffic police official from Chembur traffic department informed mid-day

The incident, which took place around 10 am in the morning, led to a traffic jam on the westbound stretch of SCLR for an hour.

Lack of signboardsAfter missing 12 deadlines, the expensive R428-crore Link Road, failed the acid test on the very first week day after its opening.

After being under-construction since 2003, the SCLR was finally thrown open for public on April 18. Pic/Sayed Sameer Abedi

Motorists were greatly inconvenienced by the lack of signboards and bumper-to-bumper traffic jams on this stretch, which disrupted their journey.

Motorists coming from south Mumbai via the Eastern Express Highway (EEH) were struggling to locate the SCLR due to missing signage and had to rely on locals and traffic cops for directions.

To overcome the problem, the traffic police department deployed traffic constables at important junctions to guide motorists towards SCLR. But this is only a temporary solution. Instead of deploying cops, they should put up boards that are visible from at least 100 metre distances, to guide motorists at the right time.

The major hurdle motorists faced was that they had to halt to read the illegible signboards and then turn for Tilak Nagar and Nehru Nagar, or take the upper deck that directly opens at Kurla junction and connects to CST Road, which finally leads to the WEH at Santacruz. This could have led to accidents. Did the authorities think about the possibility of accidents, and prepare for them? There is no sign of ambulances or paramedical staff on the 6.5 km stretch.